Container and closure therefor



Dec. 11, 1956 A. M. TOFT 2,773,620

CONTAINER AND CLOSURE THEREFOR Filed Oct. 50, 1952 CONTAINER AND CLOSURETHEREFOR Andrew M. Toft, Chicago, Ill., assignor to National CanCorporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware 7 ApplicationOctober 30, 1952, Serial No. 317,742

1 Claim. (Cl. 22024.5)

This invention relates to cans, particularly metal cans.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide areleasable and reclosable cover for a can, which cover may bemanipulated to form a liquid-tight, air-tight seal, and then may be madetamper-proof. It is a further object of the present invention to providea releasable closure for a can wherein a sealing gasket ring issubjected to axial pressure to expand it radially into sealingengagement with the wall surrounding the can opening and which at thesame time is further expanded to latch it in place under the end of theneck. It is a still further object of the present invention to provide areleasable and reclosable closure for cans, which closure has means formanipulating it in such a manner that even a slight closing action willsecure the cover in place against accidental displacement, and a morevigorous closing will produce a firm liquid-tight, air-tight seal.

The attainment of the above and further objects of the present inventionwill be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a can embodying the present invention, partsbeing broken away to illustrate the intcrior construction;

Figure 2 is a side view thereof;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along the line33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary enlarged side elevational view of an alternatestud attachment in partial section;

Figure 5 is a plan view of an alternate clamping arrangement; and

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 66 of Figure 5.

Reference may now be had more particularly to the drawing wherein likereference numerals designate like parts throughout.

The can 1 of Figures 1 and 2 comprises a cylindrical body 2, fo theusual construction, which may comprise a rectangular sheet of metalformed into a cylinder with the longitudinal edges 3 sealed together ina conventional manner as, for instance, by a solder seal with or without1 a bead. The top end of the can includes an end or cover plate 5 of anannular shape, which is sealed to the top of the can body 2 as by aconventional beaded seal 6. The annular plate 5 extends inwardly of thecan body a short distance and then terminates in a downwardly extendingseamless neck 8 which defines a circular opening in the annular coverplate 5. The opening is adapted to be closed by a clamp plate 10 thatcomprises a dished circular plate 12 having a peripheral rim 14substantially coaxial with the can body 2, and an upper flange 15 thatoverlies the annular cover plate 5. The closure 10 also includes a lowerseal plate 17 that includes a dished circular plate member 18 and adownwardly extending peripheral rim 19 in line with the rim 14, and atransversely extending annular flange 20 parallel to the flange 15. Theouter diameter of the flange 20 is slightly less than the inner diameterof theneck 8. The peripheral rim 14 and 19 and the flanges 15 and 20 areseamless and they reenforce the dished plates 12 and 18, respectively. Asealing gasket comprising a soft rubber sealing ring 22 is interposedbetween the seal plate and'the clamp plate and is confined axially bythe flanges 15 and 20 and is confined against flow radially inwardly bythe peripheral rims 14 and 19. This ring normally maintains the sealplate and clamp plate spaced apart an amount slightly in excess of thatillustrated in Figure 3, but permits drawing of the plates together tocompress the ring 22 axially, thus producing a radial pressure thereon,as will be more fully set forth.

A stud 25 having a threaded shank 26 and a head 27 is welded to theupper side of the plate 18 at the center thereof, with the shankextending through a central hole in the plate 12. A wing nut 30 isthreaded on the shank 26 and, upon tightening of the nut on the shankthe nut draws the clamp plate and seal plate towards one another, thuscompressing the soft rubber sealing ring 22 axially. This compressiontends to produce a radial expansion of the sealing ring. The radialexpansion of the sealing ring brings it into firm sealing pressureengagement with the inside surface of the neck 8 on the entireinnersurface of the neck, thereby producing a liquid-tight, air-tight seal.At the same time, the ring 22 is caused to bulge outward radially, asindicated at 32, which. bulge underlies the bottom of the neck 8 andserves as a lock to prevent manual retraction of the cover 10 from theneck 8.

A locking lug is welded to the top of the plate 12 said lug having aneye 36 therethrough. A wire 38 may be passed through the eye 36 andthrough either one of two eyes 40-40 in the wing nut 30, and the twoends of the wire may be secured together by a soft metal slug 42, as oflead or the like, to prevent turning of the wing nut so that anytampering with the can cover will be evidenced by the breaking of thewire seal.

The bottom of the can body 2 is closed by an imperforate circular bottomplate that may be beaded thereto by a bead 6' like the bead 6, as isconventional in the can making art.

In Figure 4 there is shown an alternate stud attachment wherein a stud25' that corresponds to the stud 25 of Figure 3 has a threaded shank 26'and a head 27 This stud also has a circular shoulder 47 of a diameterslightly greater than that of the shank 26'. In this instance a circularrubber gasket 48 is placed between the head 27 and the plate 18, and thestud is passed through a hole in the plate 18. The head 27' is thenforced toward the plate 18 to compress the rubber gasket 48, and whileit is thus held in compression the shoulder 47 is spot welded, by spotwelds 49, to the upper side of the plate 18. This provides aliquid-tight seal around the hole in the plate 18 through which theshoulder 47 passes. The stud of Figure 4 may be substituted for the studof Figure 3 in the can of Figure 1.

Figures 5 and 6 show an alternate arrangement for drawing the clampplate 12 and the seal plate 17 together. In this instance there is showna stud 52 mounted on the plate 18 in the same manner as illustrated inFigure 4 (although it may be mounted in the same manner as isillustrated in Figure 3), which stud includes a shank 52 similar to theshank 26 but not threaded. A stamped metal cam lever 54 includes a pairof arms 5556 that embrace the stud 52 and are pivoted thereto as by arivet 57. The arms 55 and 56 have a cam portion which may be a circulararc eccentric with .respect to the center of the rivet 57. When theclamp 54 is in the position illustrated in Figure 6 it has drawn theclamp plate and seal plate together. At this time the arms 55--56embrace the stud 35 so that the sealing wire 38 may be passed throughholes 59 in the arms 55'and 56, which holes are in alignment with thehole 36 in the stud 35, thus rendering this can tamper-proof.

The can above described is made of sheet metal. This includes the canbody 2, the bottom 45, the top plate 5, the clamp plate 10 and the sealplate 12. The metal may be the usual can making metal which is generallyiron that has been plated with tin and is known as tinplate.

In compliance with the requirements of the patent statutes 1 have hereshown and described a few preferred embodiments of my invention. It is,however, to be understood that the invention is not limited to themeciseconstructions here shown, he same being merely illustrative of theprinciples of the invention. What I consider new and desire to secure byLetters Patent is: A container comprising a body wall, an end secured tothe body and comprising an annular member sealed at the periphery to thebody and having an inwardly extending annular ring terminating in aseamless open neck extending inwardly of the body, a sealing closure forthe neck comprising a first plate covering the neck opening and restingon the annular ring, a second plate, a gasket ring of compressiblematerial between said plates and bearing against the inside of the neckand having a portion underlapping the same, said first and second plateshaving peripheral rims, said rims respectively extending upwardly fromthe top plate and downwardly from the bottom plate, the rim thatprojects from the top plate projecting an amount approximately the depthof the neck of said end and being opposite said neck and together withthe neck forming a channel for receiving the gasket ring and confiningthe gasket ring against expansion radial-1y, a'portion of said firstplate extending from the top of the peripheral rim thereof up to theneck where the neck merges with the rest of said end and constituting aclosure for said channel and confining the gasket against axialmovement, means on the outside of the plates for drawing the platestoward one another to compress the gasket means axially thereby forcingthe portion of the gasket that is confined in the channel to expandradially in its confining channel into pressure engagement with the neckand with the depending rim of the first plate, said gasket extendingbelow the neck whereby upon axial compression it expands also radiallyoutwardly into sealing overlap at the bottom of the neck. said lastmeans comprising a stud secured to the second plate at the centerthereof and extending toward and through the first plate and a rotatablemember operable on the stud to draw it axially to force the platestoward one another, and means for locking the rotatable mem 20 her toprevent release of the sealing means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS287,189 Stone Oct. 23, 1883 1,260,299 Banes Mar. 26, 1918 1,297,113Domenico Mar. 11, 1919 1,673,240 Grosser June 12, 1928 2,199,964 RookMay 7, 1940 2,604,225 Armstrong July 22, 1952 2,634,881 Grenfell Apr.14, 1953

